Gerard Houllier forced to clarify Liverpool remarks
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Your support makes all the difference.Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier has been forced to clarify remarks made after Monday's 3-0 defeat at Liverpool that infuriated many of the club's fans.
On message boards and forums yesterday, Villa supporters turned on Houllier whose side have lost four successive matches, including a run of three in the Barclays Premier League.
Speaking in the wake of the latest loss at former club Liverpool at Anfield, Houllier said: "If I have got to lose 3-0, I would prefer it to be to them as I like Liverpool."
It was a remark that did not go down well with Villa fans who felt it was a betrayal of the club he is currently managing.
That has prompted a reply from Houllier who wrote on the official club website: "To the fans who travelled to Liverpool and to all Villa supporters, let me assure that we are working as hard as we possibly can to achieve the level of success which this great club aspires to.
"Everybody is hurting because of recent results and I and my staff are working on putting this right.
"No-one likes to lose 3-0 against any team and, if comments I made in the immediate aftermath of our defeat by Liverpool have been misconstrued - comments which were intended to be humorous, by the way - let me put them into context.
"The experiences I enjoyed with Liverpool some years ago will always stay with me, as will many experiences I have had in football both before and since, and I have taken all these experiences into my job as manager of Aston Villa.
"I understand the fans' feelings of hurt and disappointment at the moment - I am hurting as much as anybody, believe me - and I say emphatically that we will battle through.
"Building lasting success at Aston Villa is my focus and my commitment to this challenge is resolute.
"It is down to us collectively as a club to work hard to bring joy and success to the fans because the fans are the most important.
"They are passionate, vocal and fantastic, which I stated when I first came here.
"They know we are in this together and their support will be vital on Saturday for our game against West Bromwich Albion."
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